VW Race Touareg 2

Dakar Rally 2009 - Leg 10

Tuesday, 13th January: Copiapo > Copiapo

• Link section: 20 km
• Special stage: 666 km
• Link section: 0 km
• Total: 686 km

Tough, tougher, Dakar – the Chilean region between the Pacific and the Cordilleras, located close to the mining city Copiapo is regarded as the planet’s hottest and driest desert. The Atacama is 100 times as dry as the USA’s notorious Death Valley and its sand dunes are regarded as the highest of the world.

The special stage of the day is the longest and the most difficult of the entire rally. Just as it was the case on the previous day, the 100-kilometre closing stages feature quite number of dunes. And even the most experienced off-road rallying experts have to face a new experience, in this area: the Chilean dunes are true sand mountains and you have to learn how to scale and drive down their flanks over a one-kilometre distance. And there is an additional unknown: nobody knows for sure how the sand will react in the region’s excessive heat. Nonetheless, keeping your cool until the special stage is over represents an absolute must.

In the merciless Atacama Desert, the drivers have to exactly know what’s going on, but at the beginning, they saw absolutely nothing: dense fog delayed the start into the 10th leg of the Dakar by two hours – and the special stage was shortened by 200 kilometres.

On the first 87 kilometres of the 466-kilometre Atacama special stage, Carlos Sainz (VW) slightly extends his lead over his second placed team-mate Mark Miller (USA) to 20:43 minutes. South Africa’s de Villiers and his German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz complete the leading Volkswagen trio. The first Dakar win of the Wolfsburgers is within grasp.

Nonetheless, the special stage remains thrilling up to the last second: on the final metres of the tenth leg, Sainz succeeds in stealing Hummer driver Robby Gordon his first leg win. In the dunes, the experienced Spaniard makes full use of his extraordinary driving skills and defeats Gordon by 21 seconds to secure his sixth leg win.

“That was close again,” said the fair loser Gordon slightly frustrated. After all, he had pushed on the ninth and on the tenth leg but failed to clinch a win, nevertheless. Despite his stunning chase, he had had to cope with finishing third, on day nine.

This time, he failed to clinch the leg win by less than half a minute. Again, he wasn’t favoured by the rally gods. Although he is the paddock’s ‘popstar’ who actually doesn’t like losing. “I want to win every race,” the Hummer driver told Eurosport.

In the overall standings, Volkswagen’s Sainz extended the lead over his second-placed team-mate Mark Miller – who finished third on day 10 – by another 7:39 minutes to a total of 27:31. For Sainz who is contesting his only third Dakar, it was the 15th leg win in the toughest off-road rally of the world. While Giniel de Villiers (VW) defended his third place but lost another 18:15 minutes.

Leg 11 »